Kingdom Hearts: fall by flight
by Zykerion
Summary: A key that locks keys. A way is open. What exactly will the young man Ion find on a journey through his world? He may find more than he expects. Original Characters/Original Storyline
1. Prologue

*****

PROLOGUE

*****

It was dark. The entire complex was like this. There was a very good chance that it hadn't been used in ages,  
yet the walls remained so very smooth, almost as if they were brand new.

He had been feeling his way around down here for days now. The labyrinthine structure was seeming to fight him  
at every turn, each hall twisting this way and that before turning back in on itself. There were even cave-ins at some  
spots, which cost him even more time back-tracking and re-back-tracking all over the complex, looking for a way to  
bypass the fallen halls.

Many times he had needed to consult one of his many maps of the place. The maze-like facility was built to keep  
'outsiders' like him out, after all. Numerous times he attempted to mark his progress on some of the walls, but it  
was as if they were made out of diamond itself, or something much sterner. This fact seemed to mystify the traveler,  
wondering how so many of the paths and hallways had caved in if they were so sturdy.

There were no symbols or signs whatsoever to indicate locations within the building either, which only added to the  
intrigue of the place, as its previous inhabitants would have had to have memorized every inch of the building to get  
anywhere.

Approaching a junction at the end of the current hallway, he once again consulted the map, checking cursorily to make  
sure he had placed updates to it in all the right locations before figuring out where he was himself. The hall curved off  
into two distinct paths, one on his left, and one in front of him. Down the left-hand hall, there was what appeared to  
be light shining. The other, to his front, was very dark. A small sweep of the flashlight he'd brought with him down the  
darkened hall revealed nothing, but he assumed the dark tunnel to be caved in, and thus began walking down the lighter  
corridor.

As he walked, he passed a room to his right. Peering into the room only for a moment, the room reassured him that he  
was finally entering familiar territory. The light appeared to shine brighter as he proceeded, map in hand, ready to mark  
anything out of the ordinary should he need to retrace his steps. The equipment he had brought with him began to hum,  
indicating that he was indeed on the right track.

It was not until the humming began that he realized he almost missed the complete and total silence of the place from  
before, the only sound being his feet against the floor and his cloak against the walls. The soft note from the machine  
on his back began to grow steadily louder, echoed by the walls further down, sounding to the untrained ear as if whatever  
was at the end of the hall was attempting to respond.

He came to the end of the passage, and was surprised to find a room. Lit, and completely undamaged. Pristine. The sight  
nearly scared him. 'Could someone be living down here?' he thought to himself. And yet even as he searched the room,  
it appeared as though it had been this way for a very long time.

A round table in the center of the room, a single book lay upon its surface, with a heavy layer of dust on its cover indicated  
as much. Just as the tunnels, this room had the smell of stale air, the exterior fans circulating fresher air from the surface  
having fallen into disrepair long ago. The room also contained a single bed, and he surmised that this must have been a  
living quarters of some kind, despite the visible lack of food, though there may have been other ways in which these people  
fed themselves.

Turning his attention to the book, he blew away the ages as the particles of dust flew into the air, coasting silently, slowly  
to the table's surface. He pulled up the single chair to the table, and opened the cover of the book slowly, wary of traps.  
The first page was blank, which, while not exactly surprising, was not what he was expecting. He turned to the second page.

What he saw, he could not believe.


	2. Chapter One

*****

CHAPTER ONE

*****

"_Ion…_"

"Wha…?"

"_Ion…_"

"Who's there…?"

His eyes opened, looking around at the scene before him. All around him, it was pitch black. Where  
was he? He could not recall ever seeing such a place as this before. Feeling around with his hands,  
he felt nothing. He took a step forward.

Suddenly, a brilliant light shone through where his foot had moved, birds appeared to be flying away,  
suffusing the 'room' with luminescence. The source of the light appeared to be a large stained glass  
window, the image of a beautiful girl with black hair emblazoned on the surface.

"_Ion…_"

A voice? Was someone calling to him? He could see no one else around. Taking a few cautious steps  
forward, a sound like crystal echoed in his ears. In front of him, a set of stairs, seemingly comprised  
of little more than light appeared, leading up and away, more lights visible in the distance now.

Despite his uneasiness, he felt that he was safe here, that no harm would come. These thoughts helped  
him as he began to climb the stairs set before him. One after another, he moved forward, the stairway  
seeming to have no set direction, moving this way and that as it willed. At one point he could have sworn  
he'd actually begun walking upside down, but he knew that had to be impossible.

At last he reached the end of them, a doorway that apparently led to nothing in his way.

"_The way is open…but can you pass…?_"

Again, that voice from nowhere seemed to speak to him. Or perhaps his imagination was simply playing  
tricks on him? He reached forward and turned the knob. The familiar click of the latch coming free of the  
door frame sounded, loud enough to drown out the sound of his heart, which he now realized was pounding  
in his chest.

He was suffused in light but for a moment, a feeling of immense warmth giving way to a lurch, a feeling  
in the pit of his stomach that he had been moved. Opening his eyes, he surveyed where he now was. It  
appeared to be a cathedral of some kind, despite having no walls. Only the darkness that was so prevalent  
here formed the walls of the place. More stained glass on the floor, depicting once more the girl with the  
black hair, but this time, a girl with white hair sat next to her, back to back.

Stepping into the room, he turned around and saw that there was no way out, at least none that he could  
see. Spinning back towards the front, the scenery had changed in an instant. Windows, all stained glass,  
all shining brightly, now lined the 'walls'. Each depicted a young girl, each as pure as the next. There were  
six in all…but then one appeared on the 'ceiling', and another at the far end, shining its light brightly down  
to some sort of pedestal on the floor.

He began moving towards the pedestal. But almost as soon as he had begun, the sound of glass shattering  
filled his ears. The windows were breaking, one by one. Through each came figures, figures dressed in blindingly  
white robes. They moved towards him, gripping him. The final window shattered, and a tall figure emerged through.  
All he could see were the eyes of this final assailant, a green that made him somehow sick to his stomach.

"_The way is open…but can you pass…?_"

"What do you mean…?"

"_When the time comes…will you sink…or will you float…?_"

And then he heard no more.

*****

Water. The sound of rushing water surrounded him. He was submerged. This was a familiar feeling. His  
vision cleared. He was in a tank. He knew where he was. Had it all been a dream? What had he seen?  
Already the memory of it began to grow farther and farther away.

"Vitals have all cleared baseline and are rising. We can open the tank." a voice that sounded slightly  
electronic said. At that moment the tank was flushed completely, and the glass began to lower into the floor.

"Everything feeling okay in there, Ion?" another, more feminine voice said, still with that electronic tinge.

"I…I think so." He almost surprised himself with the sound of his own voice, feeling slightly disoriented from…whatever  
it was he had just experienced.

A door slid open from the very white wall on the other side of the room, Ion taking note of the glass windows  
towards the top of the ceiling. From the door walked in someone with a white robe, a hood concealing their face.  
They walked towards the tank and began to unhook some of the restraints that were holding him in place.

Once completely unhooked from the tank, he was guided by the cloaked person into another room. The hooded  
person pulled out some clothes and laid them down on a nearby bench.

"You're familiar enough with this to take it from here, aren't you, Ion?" the person said.

"Yeah…I think I can handle it from here. Thank you." He said.

With that the person left the room, leaving Ion to himself and his thoughts. He reached for the clothes  
and began to put them on. First was the white undershirt, then the green and black pants, which seemed  
somewhat baggier than he last remembered them. After that came the matching jacket, then a pair of gauntlets,  
as well as his shoes. He then pulled out his own white cloak, which he promptly put on.

Before leaving the room, he took stock of himself in the mirror. Again, he seemed to be startled by his own  
appearance, as if he'd forgotten how he looked. His deep blue eyes peered back at him, his somewhat disheveled  
brown hair desperately needing tending. Was it this long last time? He couldn't remember if it had always been  
to his shoulders, as it was now. His face looked tired too, as if he'd spent a long time exercising, or some sort of  
physical activity. He chalked all of this up to the disorientation he always felt after getting out of the tank.

Opening the other door in the room, he exited into a long hallway, just as white and brightly lit as the rest of the  
complex. He remembered doing this so many times; it was almost second nature to him now. Maybe that's why he  
felt so out of it right now. He had done it so much that it was starting to become unfamiliar, much like how one can  
read a word over and over until it seems to become foreign, the meaning lost.

"Ion, please report to the main control room." The intercom barked out. He of course knew where to go. Walking  
down the hallway upon exiting the locker room, he noticed yet again how pristine and clean the walls were. He had  
always marveled at this fact, wondering just how exactly they kept everything so sterile and free of dirt. Of course,  
he'd never been outside the compound, nor had he ever seen anyone leaving or entering, so that most likely added  
to the sterility of the environs.

Weaving this way and that, hallway after long empty hallway, he made his way to the control room. The door slid back  
smoothly, almost melting away as it receded into the walls, and he walked in. The room was large, with monitoring  
devices covering the walls, things that displayed what he could only assume were heartbeats, breathing, the very  
signatures of living beings. At the other end of the room, windows that were always closed reminded him of just how  
little he really knew of this place that he seemed to spend all of his time in. There were several others in the room, many  
of whom he recognized almost immediately.

"Welcome, Ion. We've been waiting for you." Said a tall man, very muscular, shrouded by the same white cloak  
as everyone else here. He then proceeded to pull the hood back, revealing a strong prominent jaw, along with ice  
blue eyes that seemed to pierce the very soul. His hair was tied in a ponytail, cut short on top, a shimmering gray.  
This was Navek.

"Greetings, Magister Navek. I apologize if I have taken longer than I should in getting here." replied Ion.

"Oh no, Ion, you are quite on time. We wanted to discuss what exactly you experienced today."

Experienced? Memories flitted about in his mind, and yet all at once they vanished, like someone had placed a warm  
blanket over his thoughts. No matter how he tried he could not recall many details, only vague images that shifted  
and warped in his mind's eye.

"I am sorry, Magister, but the only things that I can recall is that it felt like I was dreaming. I stood on…" What was  
it he had stood upon in this 'dream' of his? More and more the memory of that which he had just been through only  
minutes ago was fading, disappearing under the swift passage of time.

"I see." The man furrowed his brow at this news. Ion looked at Navek's face and saw what he always saw. That look  
of disappointment, the critical 'gleam' of his eyes meeting Ion's own. Sometimes Navek frightened him. Made him feel  
worried. Worried about what, though? What was it that this man before him commanded to make him feel so…shaken?

"We're going to have a few more tests set up for tomorrow, Ion. In the meantime, please try to get some rest for us,  
all right?" With that, he waved his hand, motioning for Ion to leave.

*****

Sleep did not come easily. No matter what position he tried, Ion could not find anything that felt even remotely comfortable.  
Something was gnawing at him, at the back of his mind, he could feel it, and yet he did not know what exactly it was.  
Getting up from his bed, he began to walk towards the small kitchen he was allowed in his quarters.

The sound of running water soon followed; the beautiful sound of crystal clear water as it poured from the faucet. For as  
long as he could remember, this simple noise always soothed him, brought him peace. In fact, he remembered several  
times where he had been found asleep in his bathtub, the faucet running as it lulled him to sleep.

After several minutes of this, he felt that he was ready to try again. Turning the light off in his kitchen, he began to walk  
the small distance back to his bed. But then, he got the idea to take a walk. This seemed to happen often after he had  
been run through the tests. These urges always ended the same way, however. His door was locked at night,  
for reasons he did not know nor question. He assumed it was the same throughout the facility, a sort of precautionary  
security measure to safeguard against…what?

Only this time, the door automatically receded, opening into the hall, appearing dim and empty in the 'night  
light'. There were no windows, so to differentiate between 'day' and 'night', the lights were dimmed during sleep  
hours. Ion knew it was also a power saving technique. Something of this size surely needed a great deal of energy  
to keep running.

Stepping into the hall, he began a lonely trek through the darkened corridor. To either side of him, for as far as he  
could see, doors were shut, and not a person could be seen. Not even the gentle hum that accompanied the compound  
during the day could be heard. It was completely silent.

There were several points that he told himself he should head back, to return to his room. And yet each time he heard  
this, he ignored the voice in his head. So it went for at least half an hour, when he came upon a doorway that was  
open, with bright light shining from inside. He began moving towards this room, the light becoming brighter still as he  
approached.

He came to the entrance, and the light, after his eyes had become accustomed to the dark, blinded him temporarily.  
Once his eyes had adjusted to the new brightness, what he saw almost startled him. This was not a small room. In fact,  
it was massive. But that fact alone was not the most awe-inspiring thing he witnessed. He drew in the scene before him  
and marveled at it.

Lining the walls were hundreds, nay thousands of capsules. All were shielded by some sort of metal enclosure, and none  
were marked, which seemed slightly odd to him. There was also a structure in the center, which looked to be a tube,  
filled with liquid. Within it was one of the most beautiful creatures that Ion had ever laid his eyes on. She seemed almost  
seamlessly connected to all of the devices surrounding her, and yet he knew she was not.

Her eyes were closed, her lithe form simply floating as bubbles came from the breathing apparatus she was wearing.  
Naturally the other devices covered her dignity, not that any of the scientists here would be interested in such a thing  
beyond scientific interest. Her form seemed as smooth as the unmarked containers on the walls, her long blonde hair  
shimmering from the surface of the tank.

It was then that her eyes opened. It was then that the alarms sounded.


	3. Chapter Two

*****

CHAPTER TWO

*****

It was chaos in an instant. Red flickering lights were everywhere as Ion tried to make his way  
back to the room. He did not know what the alarm was for, but he feared it may have something  
to do with what he had seen. He did not want to get on their bad side. Why didn't he want to  
get on their bad side? An answer did not come, and that thought unnerved him.

He made his way down the halls, this way and that, trying to remember the specific route he had  
taken. Left, then a right, then straight, he felt that he was getting close. Along the way, he saw  
people moving this way and that, people brushing past him, apparently not taking notice of him at  
all. He did not totally understand what was going on. And it did not put his fears to rest. Turning a  
corner, he saw someone he recognized almost immediately and began running towards him.

"Magister Navek!" he shouted towards the man. Navek looked towards the boy as he approached,  
and suddenly, a great shudder shook the facility. Pieces of the ceiling and walls began to crack and  
bend, as if some beast from eons past was attempting to force itself in.

"Ion! Thank goodness you are unharmed. Tell me, why were you out of your room?" Navek asked the boy.

"Forgive me, Magister. I felt like exploring, and the door was unlocked, please don't punish me." Ion replied.

"We'll deal with this later. For now, head back to your room and stay there!" Navek spoke with such  
ferocity, that for a moment, Ion cowered at his words. He feared the man. Why did he fear him? He  
could not recall a time that the great Magister had ever done anything aggressive or violent. And yet  
that fear remained. He began to run back the way he had come.

It was at this time that he wondered why the compound was as labyrinthine as it was. The halls and  
corridors and endless branching and forks made no sense. How was this place navigable except by someone  
who knew it? He had never seen a map in all his days here, and yet never heard of anyone becoming lost.  
He turned yet another corner, hopefully almost back to his room, and the sight before him weakened his resolve.

The ceiling here had given way. Dirt and debris blocked further travel down this particular corridor. He  
would have to find another way around. _If_ there was another way around, which Ion doubted, despite  
not knowing for sure.

His worry was beginning to give way to panic. His breathing had quickened noticeably, and he felt short  
of breath suddenly. Images began playing in his head. Images of pain. Images of immense suffering. And  
yet he did not know these images. Throughout them all, sickeningly green eyes peered at him from behind  
a veil of darkness.

The ceiling chose this moment to fall.

*****

"_Ion…_"

A voice in the darkness. A voice he had heard before.

"_Ion…_"

His eyes flew open, dimly aware of a slight sense of déjà vu. He looked around him. He recognized this place.  
The endless stained glass that formed the floor he stood upon. Once more, the stairs formed in the distance.  
He felt confident this time. At the same time, he dreaded something. What did he have to fear in this place?  
He knew this place, and yet knew nothing of it all at once.

He walked slowly and cautiously to the crystalline steps, climbing them one by one. The top seemed further way  
than it did last time. Last time? Was he sure he had been here before? Once more, he was plagued by pictures,  
flashes of light before his eyes. But of what? Would this place tell him?

After what felt like an eternity, the doorway appeared before him.

"_The way is open…but can you pass?_"

Yes. I can pass. He thought this to himself, feeling it was true deep in his heart. He turned the knob on the  
door, and swung it open.

He found himself in the chapel once more. Familiarity beckoned to him. The pedestal at the end of the chapel.  
He saw that it was there too. But this time it held something. He began walking towards it slowly, cautiously,  
as if anticipating something to come. He reached the object in the pedestal, and that something never came,  
whatever it was.

"_Many keys lock doors…but only one key locks keys._"

He peered down at the object. It was a handle leading to what looked like some sort of cylinder. The rest  
of it seemed encased within the cylinder. A long chain extended from the end of the handle.

He felt weak standing near it. Almost like something else was here. It was a power, or presence, something  
that should be respected. He looked at the object, reaching out his hand, almost as if in a trance. More pictures  
flashing through his mind. What did they mean? Before he had realized it, his hand had grasped the handle  
of the object. Almost immediately, he felt suffused with…what? Power? Energy?

Light began pouring in from the windows. His vision was soon overwhelmed by a cascade of luminescence.  
He shielded his eyes but for a moment, and then the light faded away. In his hand was what looked to be a  
key. He held it up, trying to get a better look. Despite its appearance, it did not weigh much. It was surprisingly  
lightweight, almost like an extension of his arm. While he grasped it he felt stronger than he had before. He  
felt important, somehow.

The shattering glass around him shook him from his reverie. A dark figure had come through the door. A figure  
wearing a cloak. A figure that Ion both knew and did not know. They gazed at each other before the cloaked  
figure brandished what looked like a weapon. Upon closer inspection, Ion recognized it as a sort of dark and  
twisted version of that which he already held. But what was this weapon? Was it truly a weapon in the first  
place? The room began to shake. Quivering beneath their feet. Then the floor gave way.

They were falling now. Both of them. It was dark. Very dark. Darker than anything Ion had ever seen. The other  
figure was still gazing intently at him, the only thing visible a pair of blazing green eyes. The figure rammed his  
blade into the darkness, and sparks flew. It was a wall. The figure's descent slowed, and then stopped as the  
blade finally caught. Ion began to do the same, not knowing if this pit was bottomless or not, but not taking chances.  
After a short time, Ion too had stopped.

There was the sound of rubble dropping. But even after a long wait, there was no sound of anything hitting the  
bottom. The figure leapt down at Ion, and swung. Moving reflexively, Ion pulled his blade from the wall to block.  
They were falling once more. Sparks flew from where the blades met in mid air, seeming to rise back up from the  
pit as they fell faster than the signs of their clash.

Ion did not know how he was able to match this…thing. Instinct drove him. Their blades swung at each other, neither  
seeming to care that at any moment they might hit the floor and their lives would end. The only light coming from  
where their blades met for the briefest of instants. Yet they knew where the other was. Could feel the other as they  
drew close.

His opponent swung. He dodged the blow, feeling the wind coming from the strike. Ion saw his opening. With one  
swift thrust he plunged his weapon deep into his foe. But he felt no strike. Felt no impact. Felt no blood. In that instant,  
the cloaked figure's face became revealed, twisted in a look of pain and agony. A brilliant light shone from where Ion  
had struck him. And soon, that light engulfed everything.

*****

A sky at sunset. The stars beginning to shine in the twilight air. Overhead, meteors began to fall.

"_The way is open…but can you pass?_"

*****

He awoke. Giving his eyes a moment to adjust, he noticed that he was not in his room. His room? What was his room?  
His head pounded, feeling like he had gone through a thousand lifetimes in an instant, all of them vying for dominance  
inside his skull. He looked over to the side of the bed he was in. A chair held his clothes.

Rubbing his eyes, he began to look around this strange new place. There was light shining through the window. Outside,  
the day sky appeared to be just giving way to the night. Stars were twinkling as the moon shared the sky with the sun,  
as if making sure that the sun was all right before taking over its shift in the night air.

The room was somewhat dark, the ornate wooden paneling covering most of the walls making the room feel somewhat  
stuffy, claustrophobic. He moved to get up from the bed and noticed pictures on the walls. Pictures that may have been  
family for whoever owned this place. He feared that he was intruding, but he also felt at peace here. Looking down he  
noticed that his hands were bandaged. The door to the room was closed.

He stood and moved to a full-length mirror that stood in the corner. He looked himself over, and everything appeared to  
be in order. His hair was slightly mussed, but that was most likely from the bed. Moving down, he noticed his eyes. Something  
pulled him to them, but he wasn't sure what. One blue, one green. He was sure that that was what they had always  
been. Wasn't it? His memory seemed self-serving, never answering any questions. The door to the room clicked open as  
the knob turned.

"He's awake! Terra! He's awake!"


End file.
